


What Does Fanfic Leave Out?

by yourlibrarian



Series: Reviews [17]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Fanfiction, Gen, Meta, Reviews, Slavery, Tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 10:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6850450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A non-spoilery look at Books 1 and 2 of  The Captive Prince series, along with some discussion of trends in fanfic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Does Fanfic Leave Out?

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted December 11, 2011

I think there may not be anything I love more than a clever story, unless it's a clever story with characters who get more deeply drawn with each passing chapter. I stayed up an entire night reading it because I couldn't stop, and my bleary exhaustion needs to be justified somehow. If you haven't tried it yet, [Captive Prince](http://freece.livejournal.com/39701.html) by freece is a story (and better still, a long story) that is worth every minute given to it. Sadly, it is as yet unfinished though, I would guess, it hasn't got much longer to go. On the other hand, I'm not at all sure I'm sad about that because I'll be sorry to see its characters' journeys end. 

One of the things I really enjoyed about this story is that despite its trope and despite it being slashy, I didn't find it fanficcy. By which I mean, it avoided a lot of fanfic cliches, though more in its characterization and execution than by the actual storyline. This may seem quite obvious given that it's original fic, but one of the things I found so intriguing about it was how it defied my expectations while still meeting them. 

If one reads a slavefic in a fandom, there are a number of possible storylines that could be followed. I've read a few, though probably not enough to say how many different branches those storylines generally go down. But I would guess that in almost all of them the slave in question falls in love with someone who is not a slave, often the owner, and that some form of "happy" ending takes place. These are, in the end, just another form of romance with the two people destined to be together introduced early on, and after considerable difficulties (in the case of slavefics, anything from a lot of unhappiness to hideous brutalities) they are able to be together in some permanent, mutually suitable way.

So to be only very generally spoilery -- The Captive Prince does not disappoint on this front (though, as it's not finished, one can't say for sure), so in that sense it doesn't defy the expectation of a likely reader. However, what I love about it is that it lets its romantic storyline stay in the background while foregrounding political intrigue, personal journeys, self-discovery, and adventure. There is no question that from the protagonist, Damen's, POV, the relationship with his master Laurent becomes key to everything that takes place. But at the start I think it is much more key to the _reader_ than to the character. What's more the reader will, certainly before the protagonist, pick up some key information about that master that the protagonist continues to remain very dense about, even though it's a pretty critical key to his nature. Depending on how long Damen continues to be dense about it, it could be frustrating, but I suspect it's not much longer. So far it hasn't made him seem dense so much as it is _equally_ revealing about his own nature and his own blind spots when it comes to Laurent.

It's been noted many times before by many people that fanfic, on the whole, does not tend to be densely plotted, regardless of how plot-light or plot-dense the canon is. It also likes to wallow in its tropes and the thought processes of its characters. In fact, I'd say what is termed "badfic" is exactly the nth degree of each of those extremes. They are either stories that are flatter than pancakes with no deviation from an entirely typical plot, full of telling and no showing, or else they are lengthy internal monologues with either next to no action, or the same actions repeating over and over again, like pressing on a bruise. 

Better fanfic tends to utilize common storylines, but with some charm or twists to them, and some really pleasing interpretations of the characters (while avoiding their mental abysses). Some of these stories are damned clever in their interpretations of canon, with either a great premise, a great narrative voice, or both.

But one doesn't often run across a story that is like opening a series of boxes, each revealing a new, previously plotted surprise. And more than anything, Captive Prince reminded me of how much I like to be surprised (in fiction at least). It reminds me why my first favorite genre was not fantasy or sci-fi, of which I've actually read very little outside of fandom, and it was never romance. Rather my first love was mysteries, a genre rarely represented in fanfic, especially outside of mystery canons (and even then, the plot is often not the central issue, as one can see with Holmes fandom). I find I miss it.


End file.
